Rolling Down the Mekong with AmaWaterways

In the late 1990s Jimmy Murphy had a vision of an alternate future for the travel industry. Indeed, he decided that future would be in river cruising.

Murphy’s business acumen could not be doubted. He had built Brendan Tours from its beginning in the early 1970s as a small specialty operator of tours in Ireland into a large company that ran tours all over the world. He was well respected by his peers and had been elected chairman of the U.S. Tour Operators Association.

But Murphy had discovered in river cruising a new model of touring that combined transportation and lodging into one elegant vehicle -- the river cruise ship. These small ships traversed the rivers of Europe and elsewhere providing comfortable cabins for 100 or more people. They moved through the landscape and docked in the city centers where passengers could easily walk out and explore.

When the ships were at port, their locations rivaled those of the most centrally located hotels. Passengers could explore the land by day and return to their comfortable quarters in the evening. They only have to unpack and repack once during the trip. The business model combined many of the best aspects of land touring and ocean cruising, but was distinct from both.

Murphy was so taken by the new model he joined forces with some of the leading figures of the river cruise industry, including Rudi Schreiner and Kristin Karst, to form AmaWaterways in 2001. After AmaWaterways quickly got off the ground, he sold his tour company and dived wholeheartedly into the river cruise business. River cruising may not have been the only future of the tour industry, but it was one of the most successful areas to develop.

River cruising has been one of the hottest growth markets in the travel industry in the last couple of decades. And it’s easy to see why if you experience it. The Great Recession may have slowed the growth of the travel industry overall, but throughout that downturn river cruising continued to grow vigorously.

Last month I got the chance to take AmaWaterways’ Mekong River cruise through Cambodia and Vietnam and it was an ideal way to experience an incomparable destination. Vietnam, Cambodia and the Wonders of the Mekong is offered as a 16-day package that starts in Hanoi with some land touring, and then flies to Siem Reap, Cambodia, the site of magnificent Angkor Wat. At that point passengers board the river cruise ship and head down the Mekong River toward Ho Chi Minh City, otherwise known as Saigon.

Just to take the seven-day cruise with the trans-Pacific trip required a 10-day absence from work, so I did not opt for the longer trip. I made that decision while I was swamped in work and the full trip seemed like too long a time to be gone. Once I reached the destination and realized what I was missing even after traveling so far, I felt stupid for flying all that way and still missing my chance to visit Hanoi.

By the time I started the cruise in Cambodia, it was already coming to a close. For those booking, I heartily recommend taking the whole trip. I can’t tell you what the first part was like except by word of mouth. But I can tell you that it was painful once I got there and realized what I had missed. But that’s how it goes.

It points up the difference in one’s state of mind when struggling with deadlines in the office and when traveling. My advice to others, don’t short sell your trip. Once you’re out there, you’re going to want to go the extra mile. When you’re on your deathbed those lost hours of work will mean very little. But a great travel experience will stay with you as long as you live.

I flew to Cambodia on Korean Air on a 14-hour flight from New York JFK to Incheon airport in Seoul, Korea, where after a short interval at the airport I flew another five hours to Siem Reap. I flew economy class and more than 20 hours in flight is a challenge no matter how you cut it. But the flight was comfortable, the leg-room was reasonable, and the entertainment options were far more than adequate. The flight attendants were kind and attentive, so the long sojourn was as painless as it could be.

Because of flooding on the Mekong River that was taking place at the time, AmaWaterways was forced to make a last-minute change in the itinerary. It meant that we would have to board the vessel in a different place than originally planned. Since I’d chosen to opt out of the first part of the trip, I arrived in Siem Reap on Sunday night. By the original itinerary I would have had the next morning to explore Angkor Wat and we would have left to board in the afternoon. But the change in the itinerary required that we take a five-hour coach ride to reach our boarding station on the Mekong. We had to depart early in the morning, so I found myself in the strange position of being in Siem Reap and not seeing Angkor Wat.

Yes, travel is full of the unexpected things and sometimes those acts of God or random chance produce disappointing results. But there was nothing disappointing about what I did see and experience during the rest of the cruise. The 124-passenger Amalotus was elegant and comfortable, with extensive woodwork throughout the ship exuding a friendly, cozy feeling. The staff, primarily from Cambodia and Vietnam, were not just friendly and attentive, but truly delightful people who were a pleasure to be around. The guides were remarkable people as well, with much to share in their personal experiences. Cambodia and Vietnam were clearly distinct from one another, and I would put both in the category of must-see destinations for Americans. And I’ll tell you more about why in a future column.

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